MyRetailCareer

A Perfect Monday

I venture to guess that little meaningful work will be done this  Monday and here's why.

1. It's Monday and everyone has to be in meetings. Monday meetings rarely result in any work being done in the first place.
2. The fact it's a rather unique Monday will escape most meeting leaders so be tolerant of them. 
3. Mondays can be unsettling; having to go back to work after the weekend does that to some people. 
4. However, to make this Monday unique you need some additional components to converge (anyone see "The Perfect Storm") leading us to points 5 & 6 .
5. It's St. Patrick's Day.  (More on that later)
6. It's the day after the NCAA picked the teams for the upcoming March Madness National College Basketball Extended National Holiday.

Let's begin with Monday meetings.  You all left on Friday, comfortable with what you accomplished for the week and yet on Monday, you all all need to huddle together and figure out just what changed in the last 48 hours. 

Let's move on to St. Patrick's Day.  (Enough said until later)

Finally, NCAA brackets and office pools will be out en masse' and I pick North Carolina to go all the way.  You heard it here first.

Why am I not giving you all advice on your career today?

Well, I could bring you down and tell you that for some reason, companies like to bring the staff in on Mondays and then make their downsizing announcements.

But and it's a "BIG BUT", who cares if it happens this Monday?

It's St. Patrick's Day & that means green beer. 

Really Green beer.  I'm a Sierra Club member and proud of it.  They have a nice blog, "The Green Life" that recently highlighted 5 brews that are really green, organic, and working to lighten their carbon footprint. 

So if you come in today, get a call from HR asking to talk with you, and then  end up filling up a box with your belongings and being escorted out the door, sans laptop, blackberry and corporate AMEX, just smile (and remember to grab your office March Madness office pool bracket sheet.  You're still in the pool even if you're out of the office).   

It's the perfect Monday.

Things happen for a reason, go enjoy a nice Sierra Nevada.  Food coloring or not, it's a green beer. Oh, need some help with your Corned Beef dinner, give me a call.

Take Stock

Yesterday I said, "take stock in what you have."  The Oxford English Dictionary says the phrase was first used in 1736. According to the OED, to take stock means "to make an inventory of the merchandise, furniture, etc., in one's own ... possession, recording its quantity and present value, or to make a careful estimate of one's position with regard to resources, prospects, or the like."

How do you take stock of your career?  I think a lot of people look at tangible items like salary, position, title, responsibilities, achievements and maybe some intangible items like satisfaction, pride, and sense of purpose.  Notice though the definition says resources, prospects, or the like.

Dr. James. M. Wendling of the Wendling Group sends out a nice newsletter "a positive moment."  Today's issue, "The 10 biggest lies that stop people from getting what they want", which should be available on the web site soon, talks about how people can be kept from obtaining their goals by critics.  It's motivating to read and reminds us not to listen to those who say we can't achieve our goals.

How it fits in the topic of "take stock" is that if any one of these 10 highly successful individual would have "taken stock" at the time in what might be considered a traditional way, it's possible that none of them would have reached their goals.

Here's a bit of the article.

You don't have enough talent. Responding to his desire to become a recording artist, Ray Charles' teachers said: "You can't play the piano, and God knows you can't sing. You'd better learn how to weave chairs so you can support yourself."

I think Ray Charles probably took stock.  I think he might have thought,  "Resources? I have a lot of time on my hands, so I can practice and get better at my piano and my singing.  Prospects? Even being a mediocre singer and piano man beats weaving chairs all day."

Pragmatic not Pessimistic

A friend pointed out that my last 2 posts were perhaps a little to pessimistic and I assure you they weren't meant to be. 

Thus the title, Pragmatic not Pessimistic.  I remember the first time I actually learned what the word pragmatic meant.  I was a first-term freshman at Oregon State University, sitting in 101 English.  We were discussing a short story about a couple of cowboys trying to get the herd down into the valley before winter.  I was talking about what I thought it meant when the grumpy professor, who liked to cuss a lot, interrupted me and said, "You just don't get it do you?  You've been talking for almost 5 minutes and the story can be summed up with one word.  Pragmatic, you idiot." 

He was even more colorful in his expression but I learned the meaning of a word that day.  A well taught lesson is never forgotten.

What does this have to do with your career?  While you control your own destiny to a point, there are many things simply out of your control.  You need to take a pragmatic point of view, particularly when things are getting tough out there.

Pragmatic means instead of saying that either the glass is half-full or half-empty, you say, "I have 4 ounces of water, what am I going to do with it?"

Take stock in what you have career-wise from a pragmatic perspective and you'll be much more prepared than the guy or gal in the cubical or office next to you.

Now my friend can point out that I'm being to philosophical these days.

Batten down the hatches

We've all heard this term and most know it has a nautical origin meaning to prepare for bad weather.  As I said yesterday, I'm not a doom and gloom person but being ready in advance isn't a bad way to go.

Just how do you prepare for a life changing event where your career could get tossed around or rolled over?  Here are some suggestions to start. Please don't say "Duh Brad, kind of obvious" because at least 90% of the people that I talk to don't do most of these.  I hear a lot of, "I know I should have been doing these but I just didn't expect this to happen so soon" this of course, meaning unemployment.

• Always have an up-to-date, general purpose resume at home.  On the computer, on a disc and a printed copy in a file.  Computers crash, CD's get scratched.
• Make sure you have any and all important information, no matter how trivial it seems today, at your disposal.  Contact info is critical but don't forget old performance reviews, letters of recommendations, business results, etc.
• Start reconnecting with your network, no matter how small and how long it's been since you last talked with them.  Most people are pretty forgiving that you forgot to call them back 7 years ago.
• Take advantage of LinkedIn and build your network.
• Identify your particular "Developmental Needs" and start working on them.  If you know a certain certification would help or you don't have strong speaking skills, get it or fix them.

Yes, there are many other things you can do but I'd certainly recommend you cover these hatches first.

Some companies are pretty supportive in a downsizing and others just kick you out the door.  If your "home" computer is the company laptop and your contacts are in your company blackberry, I'd certainly have backups on hand.  Sometimes those things are the first to go and you never see them again. 

March Madness

I don't really mean college Basketball here but there were some good games this weekend.  My idea of March madness is the Labor Department announcement last week that employers cut 63,000 jobs in February, the most in 5 years. Hit most hardest were construction, manufacturing and retail.  Go figure....

Coupled with the 22,000 jobs cut in January and things might be looking pretty scary for many out there.

At MyRetailCareer.net, I see firsthand that companies are playing it safe and worried about the economy.  I had more emails and phone calls last week than any single week ever, all from people who had either lost their job or were concerned about losing it.

In talking with them, none had an updated resume.  They hadn't started networking.  They weren't even sure if they had everyone's contact information and any other information they might need to conduct a job search if they didn't have access to their office. 

Anyone that knows me knows my favorite quote is from JFK.  "The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining."  I don't advocate doom and gloom but the simple fact is the better prepared you are for some potential "bad job thing" to happen, the easier it will be to get through it.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Louis Pasteur is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all times but he wasn't a really good student.  As a youth, he wanted to become a professor of Fine Arts.  Thankfully, he chose science and we have Pasteurization to thank him for.

"What does this have to do with my career" you ask?  It demonstrates that we often have multiple skills and abilities which taken individually don't seem to have much to do with each other.  When properly combined and balanced, those diverse skills can create remarkable achievements and results.

Secondly, luck does play a part in everything we do.  Call it fate, kismet, karma, fluke or the Midas touch, luck does factor into your career.  I always like to say, "The harder you work, the luckier you get." 

You can prepare for luck as well.  Read Robin Greenspan's February 25th Execunet newsletter on "How to Avoid Sending Plea-Mail." Robin makes a great argument about how networking is often reactive.  Thus today's quote.

Make networking part of your daily and weekly process.  Join LinkedIn and send me an invitation, Read "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi. Forward this to someone you know. 

2008 is looking to be a bumpy ride Mr. Toad.  Be Prepared.

"Either Or" and Happy 4th of July

I took a month off from writing here and I must say, it's good to be back.  What prompted me to pick up the mighty keyboard was a recent question on LinkedIn Answers.

Is it really who know verses what you know?

If recruiters are looking for passive candidates, then is it a waste of time to post resumes on web sites. Is it really who you know verses what you know?

I gave a short answer on LinkedIn but I think the question begs some deeper consideration. 

1. Recruiters are looking for the right candidate not a passive or active candidate.  They want to do a good job and that means making the candidate and the client happy which requires doing the right thing for both. 
2. Recruiters find candidates in a number of ways.  Yes there are passive candidates and active candidates but posting a resume on a job board does not make a candidate either.
3. Yes a lot of jobs are found through networking and so people assume you get a job because of who you know and not what you know.  That is simply not true.
4. You might get an interview because of who you know but you will get the job because of who you are.
5. The best way to find a new position is to "get to know more people" and "get more people to want to know you."

I'll elaborate on these points over the next week or so but go out, have some chicken BBQ or whatever you have on the 4th, enjoy some fireworks and spend time with family and friends.

LinkedIn and Networking

Today I saw a question asking why an account on LinkedIn would be restricted.  I haven't gotten a complete answer from LinkedIn but it seems that if you get too many invitations rejected with the, " I don't know you" button, you get restricted.  

Now, I can understand LinkedIn trying to keep people from sending a million requests.  I can also understand LinkedIn's desire to make money by getting you to upgrade to higher levels of product.  But  I don't understand this piece of logic, pulled from their site.

Invitations & Connecting

Connecting to someone on LinkedIn implies that you know them well:

Why would I only want to connect to someone I know well?  Why would I go to a networking event if I know everyone there well?  As my Great-Grandmother used to say. "Well, that's a deep subject."   

LinkedIn should just call it what it is so I rewrote it for them.

Invitations & Connecting

Connecting to someone on LinkedIn that you don't know well costs money:

We're all big boys and girls here.  If I want to connect to Suzy Smith at ABC Company because I want to network with someone there, I should pay something.  I shouldn't have LinkedIn try to redefine "connecting" for their own business model. Just say, it costs money. 

 But see, that is where LinkedIn gets caught up.  Networking isn't supposed to cost money.  It's about you doing a good deed and it coming back to you, in a good way, sometime, somewhere.  LinkedIn is charging for access and that's fine, but let's not try to fool anyone into thinking it is about connecting and networking.  We're not that dumb.

Supporting our Armed Services

I usually send out a newsletter 2 or 3 times a month. It covers areas that I might choose not to write about here but I think yesterday's topic deserves as much attention as it can get.

I not making a political statement here on our current situation in Iraq, but I do believe that we as should support our Armed Services and MyRetailCareer.net is offering a couple of ways to do that.

Operation Care Package

First, with the purchase of any resume or career service we will send a care package through Operation Care Package to our troops in your name. If you wish to include a personal note, we will make sure it gets sent along too.

Trained and Ready to Report

I read an article Tuesday by Eve Tahmincioglu, a MSNBC contributor, titled "To get a post-military job, drop the jargon, GI."  About 250,000 active duty individuals leave the military each year according to the article and it got me thinking.

I've had the pleasure of working with ex-military people, both in retail and banking, on many occasions.  Every one of them demonstrated excellent leadership, decision making, decisiveness, communication, and team building skills.  To say nothing about resourcefulness, logistics, work ethic, etc. The list goes on and on.

Does your company take advantage of this highly skilled, well trained, able and willing group or does your company have trouble getting through the jargon? 

$99 Special for Military Members

We are offering a special $99 resume rework for any military member looking for a career in retail, hospitality or even banking. We'll take their current resume and get the "jargon" out. We'll also provide some excellent job search advice and hook them up with JibberJobber who also strongly supports our troops.

 

Jason Alba, CEO over there at JibberJobber offers Free Premium Service for Deployed Troops. Free, how inexpensive is that?

Have a great Friday! 

HR, Staffing or Sir Lancelot and maybe Lady Guinevere

Chris Russell in his Secrets of the Job Hunt blog wrote on Tuesday, "How to Approach HR." Chris had a novel idea and actually asked HR folks how they like to be approached. I don't know any of these HR people but here are my thoughts.

• A lot of HR people don't want to be bothered and prefer you follow company "protocol" when trying to get hired by their company.

There is so much wrong with this that I could rant for days. Most company's recruitment processes suck, capital S. They post lousy employment ads on homogeneous job boards, receive thousands of poorly written resumes, scan the inaccurate data into some ATS (applicant tracking system), assign incorrect skills and key words and then their positions stay open for months. The talented gem in this mix usually gets overlooked, never gets called or even acknowledged and has crossed out what looked to be a promising company. Goodbye employment brand.

One HR person said, "there are reasons why a specific company protocol is in place." I'm sure there are, but I will guarantee you that when they list those reasons, "Attracting and landing the top talent in their industry" doesn't make the top 10 list and if it does, they're delusional.

• It's not us, go find staffing.

It must be nice when a company can become large enough that the HR department can offload the burdensome task of finding tomorrow's corporate leaders to the "staffing" department. Staffing is located down in the basement, next to raw materials purchasing. Just look for the trucks hauling off the pig iron and turn left. I don't say this to insult anyone in staffing, because I think they have the most important positions in the company and their decisions have significant implications up and down the corporate ladder. I say this because staffing or talent acquisition is a tough job and doesn't get nearly the respect it deserves.

• Come to me and I'll just delete you or ignore you.

When I was a retail buyer, I made time for every vendor that wanted to see me. At first, it was fully out of fear. What if the vendor I didn't see had the next iPod, and my competition had it on their floor before me and my boss found out I wouldn't give the vendor a 15 minute appointment? I would be dead meat. I soon learned common courtesy and respect was a good enough reason to find those 15 minutes. If someone is willing to share their professional life story with your company, they deserve the common courtesy and respect of a reply.

• Networking can work.

Russell Wright said, "They best way to get noticed is if you have a knight in shining armor come to your aid. This can be either an insider or a recruiter." I don't know who Russell Wright is, but I am going to find out and meet him. I can tell you, even without knowing him, that he is bright and successful. He's the type of person I would be trying to recruit to my company.

How do you get around these HR barriers? Network, network, network and have a resume that is so compelling that people have to meet you. Make the reader drool. Get some professional guidance on career management. Differentiate yourself.

Don't waste your time applying to companies that treat the recruitment process like a game of chance.

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